2020 Graduate Research Conference

2020 Graduate Research Conference Virtual edition

Welcome to the first Virtual Edition of the Graduate Research Conference at Eastern Michigan University. Due to world-wide health and safety concerns, the 2020 Graduate Research Conference scheduled for March 20th was canceled. However, we are excited to bring you the GRC experience virtually. Please find the scholarly and creative research endeavors of our graduate students under the mentorship of faculty members below.

The 2020 GRC Program is available here.

ABSTRACT CONTEST WINNERS

Congratulations to the following graduate students on winning the 2020 Abstract Contest. The GRC Team received many well-written abstracts featuring exciting research projects this year. We would like to thank all graduate students for all of the hard work they've put into their applications and projects. To view the abstracts, please click here.

College of Technology: Hamidreza Asemani
College of Arts & Sciences: Sara Srygley (Sciences), Meagen Winkelseth (Humanities), Simone Dixon (Social Sciences)
College of Education: Jennifer Bennett
College of Business: Team of Orlando Kamaj, Nana Adomako, James Pope
College of Health and Human Sciences: Hannah Bornamann

Virtual 3 Minute Thesis Competition

This year, the 3MT Competition was delivered through Zoom Conferencing with the help of our judges: Sonia Chawla, Tana Bridge, and Julia Nims. Congratulations to Cynthia Morgan, Jennifer Bennett, and Kasyera Kowalczyk for winning the Virtual 3 Minute Thesis Competition. Each winner was honored with a $200 scholarship from the Graduate School. Thank you to all of our competitors for presenting their research.

POSTER PRESENTATIONS

Aleen Bazzi [abazzi7@emich.edu]. "Modes of Education on Sock-Ply Management for Transtibial Amputees". MS, Orthotics and Prosthetics. Faculty Mentor: Nathan Kearns.

Megan Beisser [mbeisser@emich.edu]. "Perceived Benefits and Suggested Improvements for Orthotics and Prosthetics Communication Skills Training". MS, Orthotics and Prosthetics. Faculty Mentor: Frank Fedel

Jane Boyle [jboyle1@emich.edu]. "A Integrative Review between Neighborhood and Allostatic Load". MSN, Nursing - Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner. Faculty Advisors: Meriam Caboral-Stevens; Keisha Lovence.

Jane Boyle & Dawn Schonfeld [jboyle1@emich.edu]. "Teen Sexual Health". MSN, Nursing - Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner. Faculty Mentor: Kathleen Seurynck.

Jessica Good [jgood7@emich.edu]. "Behavioral Conceptualization of Pediatric Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: An Old but Under-Appreciated Perspective on a Prevalent Issue". M.S., Clinical Behavioral Psychology. Faculty Mentor: Alexandros Maragakis.

Emily Goodson [egoodson@emich.edu]. "The Rise of Telehealth in Social Work Practice". MSW, Social Work. Faculty Mentor: Jillian Graves.

Mark Hergenrather [mhergen1@emich.edu]. "Creating a Lower Limb Part Task Trainer for Joint Integrity Assessment". MS, Orthotics and Prosthetics. Faculty Mentor: Frank Fedel.

Kalyn Johnson [kjohn237@emich.edu]. "Explication of Whiteness in Cross and Fhagen-Smith's Model of Black Identity Development". MA, Educational Leadership- Higher Education/Student Affairs. Faculty Mentor: Raul Leon.

Noah Molter [nmolter@emich.edu]. "Optimal Carbon Fiber Laminations for Cost-Effective Fabrication." MS, Orthotics and Prosthetics. Faculty Mentor: Nathan Kearns, CPO.

Jacob Praga [jpraga@emich.edu]. "Electroplated 3D printed prosthetic hands: The search for a high functioning, durable, low-cost prosthesis". MS, Orthotics and Prosthetics. Faculty Mentor: Frank Fedel.

Deanna Price [dprice23@emich.edu]. "IGFBP-3 Blocks Hyaluronan-CD44 Signaling, Affecting Acetylcholinesterase Levels in A549 Cell Media and Cell Viability". MS, Molecular/Cellular Biology. Faculty Mentors: Deborah Heyl; Jeffrey Guthrie; Heedel Guy Evans

Zachary Radtke [zradtke@emich.edu]. "Displaying the Benefits of Elevated Vacuum Suspension for Transtibial Amputees". MS, Orthotics and Prosthetics. Faculty Mentor: Frank Fedel.

Kimberly Shidler & Rodi Olli [kshidler@emich.edu]. "Mindfulness-Based Guided Meditation to Improve Sleep in Graduate Nursing Students". MSN, Nursing- Adult Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist Nursing. Faculty Mentor: Kathleen Seurynck.

Courtney Simko [csimko1@emich.edu]. "The Shameless Portrayal of Poverty". PhD, Educational Studies. Faculty Mentor: Christopher Robbins.

Melissa Sirois [msirois@emich.edu]. "Design and Fabrication of a Lower Limb Part Task Trainer for Palpation Education." MS, Orthotics and Prosthetics. Faculty Mentor: Frank Fedel.

Sara Srygley [ssrygley@emich.edu]. "Racial/Ethnic Segregation Patterns in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, Michigan". MA, Sociology. Faculty Mentor: Grigoris Argeros.

ORAL PRESENTATIONS

Hamidreza Asemani [hasemani@emich.edu]. "Design of Dual-Curing Materials Using a UV-Initiated Mechanism Suitable for 3-D Printing Applications". PhD, Technology. Faculty Mentor: Vijaykumar Mannari.

Gillian Autterson [gautters@emich.edu] "Evaluating the Role of Exo1p in the Repair of Chromosome Breaks in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae". MS, Molecular/Cellular Biology. Faculty Mentor: Anne Casper.

Eliona Balilaj [ebalilaj@emich.edu]. "Corpus-based Teaching of English for Specific Purposes". MA, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages/TESOL. Faculty Mentor: Ildi Porter-Szucs.

Mary Bautista [mengfelt@emich.edu] "Bringing Climate Change Instruction into K-12 Education: Implementation Ideas from Pre-Service Science Teachers". MS, Chemistry. Faculty Mentor: Amy Flanagan Johnson.

Jennifer Bennett [jvance@emich.edu]. "The Impact of Role Models on Resilience". MA, Educational Psychology. Faculty Mentors: Alane Starko, Sylvia Jones, Nelson Maylone.

Alexandra Bennett, Tiffany Chen, Kimberly Kreuzwieser [abenne31@emich.edu]. "International Students’ Sense of Belonging in American Higher Education Institutions". MA, Educational Leadership- Higher Education/Student Affairs. Faculty Mentor: Raul Leon.

Bradley Bezeau [bbezeau@emich.edu]. "The Relationship Between Teacher Self-efficacy and the Participation in New Teacher Induction Programs in Michigan Public Schools". PhD, Educational Leadership. Faculty Mentors: Ronald Williamson and Robert Carpenter.

Cheslyn Dace [edace@emich.edu]. "Multivariate Analysis of Percent Body Fat and Body Measurements". MS, Mathematics. Faculty Mentor: Tanweer Shapla.

Morgan Daugherty & Jordan Sieja [mdaughe5@emich.edu]. "Receptive Vocabulary as a Protective Factor for Parental Stress". MS, Psychology- General Clinical. Faculty Mentors: Jamie Lawler & Angela Staples.

Katrina Finkelstein [kfinkels@emich.edu]. "On the Front Lines of Cosmetics: A Tube of Lipstick in World War II". MS, Historic Preservation. Faculty Mentor: Nancy Bryk.

Kristine Gatchel [kgatche1@emich.edu]. "Graphic Medicine and the Iconography of Illness: Exploring the Manifest, Concealed, and Invisible Aspects of Anorexia Nervosa." MA, Children's Literature. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Annette Wannamaker.

Xiaokai Han [xhan@emich.edu]. "The Use of Online Vocabulary Learning Tools in University English as a Second Language (ESL) Academic Vocabulary Class". MA, Teaching English to Speaker of Other Languages/ TESOL . Faculty Mentor: Cynthia Macknish.

Xiaokai Han [xhan@emich.edu]. "Effective E-tools for Formative Assessment in the College English as a Second Language (ESL) Classroom". MA, Teaching English to Speaker of Other Languages/ TESOL . Faculty Mentor: Wendy Wang.

Orlando Kamaj, Nana Adomako, James Pope [okamaj@emich.edu]. "Eagle Investment Fund Portfolio Rebalancing Analysis" MBA, Business Administration. Faculty Mentors: Yu Zhang and Ivan Rodriguez.

Hannah Karel [hkarel@emich.edu]. "Long Ago and Far Away: Exoticism of Fantasy Music". MM, Music. Faculty Mentor: Diane L. Winder.

Nafiah Khan [nkhan3@emich.edu] . "Examining Interprofessional Collaboration in Pediatric Swallowing Assessment Protocols". MA, Communication Sciences and Disorders. Faculty Mentor: Ana Claudia Harten.

Christine Lancaster [clancaste@emich.edu]. "Sense of Belonging and College Students in Recovery: Implications for Both Recovery and Student". PhD, Educational Leadership. Faculty Mentor: David Anderson.

Wendy Lawrence [wlawren7@emich.edu]. "It's all Political: How Heteronormative School Politics Impede the Politics of LGBTQIA School Reforms". PhD, Educational Leadership. Faculty Mentor: Rema Reynolds.

Rebecca Lindow [rlindow@emich.edu]. "The Evaluation of Parameters Affecting Antibiotic Production in Soil Microbes". MS, Molecular/Cellular Biology. Faculty Mentor: Paul Price.

Part 1: Bessie Mazur [mazur.bessie@gmail.com]. "What Barriers Do Secondary Schools' Present When Implementing Response to Intervention". MAT, Special Education. Faculty Mentor: Derrick Fries.

Part 2: Bessie Mazur [mazur.bessie@gmail.com]. "What Barriers Do Secondary Schools' Present When Implementing Response to Intervention". MAT, Special Education. Faculty Mentor: Derrick Fries.

Jonah Nelson [jonahmnelson@gmail.com]. "Improved SolidWorks FEA Batch Automation and Optimization". MS, Computer Aided Engineering. Faculty Mentor: Tony Shay.

Josiah Pankiewicz [jpankiew@emich.edu]. "When Staying in the Kitchen Saves the World: Motherhood in the Percy Jackson Series". MA, Children's Literature. Faculty Mentor: Amanda Allen.

Marie Sarnacki [msarnack@emich.edu]. "The Memory and Image of Charlemagne as the Once and Future Crusading Emperor". MA, History. Faculty Mentor: Ronald Delph.

Alex Schukow [aschukow@emich.edu]. "Culturally Responsive School Leadership: Examining White Male Principals’ Practices". PhD, Educational Leadership. Faculty Mentor: Rema Reynolds.

Yasmin Snounu [ysnounu@emich.edu]. "Advantages and Challenges of a backyard Research on Disability in Palestine". PhD, Educational Studies. Faculty Mentor: Joe Bishop.

Warifa Sobh & M John Andrews [warifasobh@gmail.com]. "Teachers who Speak ESL: Perceptions of Games and Engagement in the Second Language Classroom". MA, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Lanuges/ TESOL. Faculty Mentor: Zuzana Tomas.

Jessica Tapley, Christina-Marie Sears, Ryan Cox, and Katlyn Dudek [jtaplye@emich.edu]. "Unreal the City: an Exploration of the Devastating Cost of WWI and the Unlikely Cultural Recovery through Literary Modernism." MA, Literature. Faculty Mentor: Elisabeth Daumer.

Nasiba Usmonova [nusmoniv@emich.edu]. "Gender Pay Gap in the Banking Sector: Has the Great Recession Changed the Obvious?". MS, Applied Econometrics. Faculty Mentor: Mehmet Yaya and James Saunoris.

Meagan Winkelseth [mwinkels@emich.edu]. "The Stigma Management Strategies of Prison Inmates Ages 50-Plus Seeking Pen Pal". MA, Communication. Faculty Mentor: Dennis O'Grady.

Christopher Yelonek [cyelonek@emich.edu]. "Motor City Transit". MS, Historic Preservation. Faculty Mentor: Danny Bonenberger.

Thank You

On behalf of the GRC Team, thank you to all presenters, faculty mentors, and the Graduate School for their support in this event. We appreciate the flexibility and effort that has gone into preparing projects and presentations. Thank you to the judges of the 3- Minute Thesis Competition and to our GRC Team- Wade Tornquist, Tracy Pytlak, Sonia Chawla, Julia Nims, Tana Bridge, Phyllis Britton, Jennifer Glass, Jessica Good, and Macy Oteri.

Appreciate